Thursday

On paper, the offensive depth around Tom Brady was limited on Sunday. Of course, that’s only true if you’re looking at football in a traditional sense.

On paper, the offensive depth around Tom Brady was limited on Sunday.

Of course, that’s only true if you’re looking at football in a traditional sense.

Without Chris Hogan, Julian Edelman, or Malcolm Mitchell, the Patriots offense was down to three receivers. And since Danny Amendola has been limited with a knee injury, the team has had only two healthy wideouts in Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett, first-year Patriots whose knowledge of the playbook also could be called limited.

Despite it all, Brady still finished Sunday with three touchdown passes and a 125.4 quarterback rating. The Patriots can be down several receivers but still move the ball efficiently thanks, in part, to their expanding depth at tight end.

The addition of Martellus Bennett last week occurred at the perfect time. The depth paid dividends in Denver and the position could continue to be big for the Patriots moving forward.

“We ask our tight ends to do a lot of different things,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “They are obviously integral to what we do in the running game but they catch passes, they pass-protect, many of them contribute in the kicking game, which is an important aspect of being there at the game, and they learn multiple positions, because when you’ve got more than one of them in the game at the same time, they’re not playing the same role.

“They back one another up, they provide depth at a position that we use quite a bit and they do a lot of different things in our offense.”

The versatility of the Patriots tight ends was evident in Denver. Overall, 28 passes were caught and 10 of those went to the group of Rob Gronkowski, Bennett, Dwayne Allen, and James Develin, who, although listed as a fullback, does line up at tight end and participates in the positional meetings.

Gronkowski and Bennett helped keep Von Miller at bay during several pass plays. Allen also had a key block on Miller during a Dion Lewis touchdown run. Rookie Jacob Hollister contributed on special teams, recovering a muffed punt and coming up with a big block on Lewis’ kickoff return for a touchdown.

In the passing game, Gronkowski caught four passes for 74 yards, while Bennett had three catches for 38 yards and Allen caught an 11-yard touchdown.

“It’s huge,” Gronkowski said. “It’s great to see those guys contributing like that. The first under with Marty went for like 20-plus yards. It helps out. That’s huge. Seeing Dwayne get that TD, I was so happy for him when he got that. It was great to see that and just everyone contributing in our group. Develin had a couple of catches. He’s part of the tight end group and it’s just awesome to see all of us be able to be part of the game plan like that and all contribute in the passing game and run game.”

Last season, with Gronk and Bennett alone, the Pats arguably had the best tight end group in the NFL. Add in Allen, who has spent his career as a starter, and the Patriots again have one of the most experienced tight end groups in the league.

The team is still hurting at the receiver position. Edelman isn’t coming back this season and it’s unknown whether Mitchell will return off the IR. This week, Hogan is rehabbing his shoulder in Foxboro instead of practicing with the team in Colorado Springs. Amendola is still limited in practice with his knee injury. Dorsett, although healthy, is still trying to catch on.

With the Patriots hurting at that important position, the tight end group will have to continue to step up.

“Very talented, very talented,” Allen said of the group. “How good are we? How good can we be? The rest of the season is going to tell. I think chemistry is one big thing and Martellus having played here last year, having that chemistry with Tom. The room that we have is amazing with Marty, Gronk, Jacob, myself, and let’s not forget James Develin. He’s in the room also.

“It’s all about how we come to work each week and how we focus on getting better.”

Mark Daniels writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.

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